HP shows strong Q4 sales with in line earnings
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HP delivered better-than-expected fourth quarter sales with in line earnings.
The company reported fourth quarter net income of $1.5 billion, or 91 cents a share, on revenue of $15.4 billion, up 10 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings for the fourth quarter were 54 cents a share.
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Wall Street was looking for fiscal fourth quarter non-GAAP earnings of 54 cents a share on revenue of $15.10 billion.
For fiscal 2018, HP reported earnings of $5.3 billion, or $3.26 a share, on revenue of $58.5 billion, up 12 percent.
HP CEO Dion Weisler said the performance in the quarter was consistent. For the year, HP generated $4.2 billion in free cash flow.
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For the fourth quarter, personal systems revenue was up 11 percent with equal strength in consumer and commercial sales. Printing revenue was up 9 percent with hardware units up 11 percent.
Weisler outlined 3D printing potential on an earnings conference call:
In 3D Printing, this quarter, we announced a new Metal Jet platform, bringing 3D mass production to the metals manufacturing industry for the first time. We're excited by the potential of this business and are working closely with automotive and industrial leaders. We are especially encouraged by the volume of final part applications we are delivering across verticals, including the transportation, industrial and medical markets.
He also added that CPU shortages from Intel remain a concern. Weisler said:
We were cautious for the first half of 2019 with regards to CPU shortages, and that's exactly what's playing out. Intel stated again this week that shortages are constraining their customers' growth across their ecosystem, and we're seeing that impact across multiple core families of processes and chipsets.
As for the outlook, HP said first quarter earnings will be 50 cents a share to 53 cents a share on a non-GAAP basis. Wall Street was looking for earnings of 52 cents a share non-GAAP.
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For fiscal 2019, HP said non-GAAP earnings will be between $2.12 a share and $2.22 a share.